Open skies to improve Davao trade, tourism
By MARBEE SHING GO
By MARBEE SHING GO
July 30, 2011
Manila Bulletin
TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Philippines – Davao will soon become a gateway for more international flights, Department of Tourism Regional Director Art Boncato said Saturday.
At the launch of Tagum City’s River Cruise program initiated by the city’s tourism council, Boncato said that Singapore-based Tiger Airways is launching its inaugural Davao-Singapore flight on November 6, and negotiations with Indonesia-based carrier Lion Air to reopen the Davao-Manado connection are under way.
The DoT is now in the final stages of completing the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), a medium-term program that maximizes tourism as a source of revenue. Soon to be presented to President Aquino, the vision of the NTDP is to make the Philippines a must-experience destination, Boncato says.
“We’ve also set goals for ourselves for the next 5 years,” Boncato said. “We would want to have 6.6 million foreign visitors. We would want to have over 30 million domestic travelers moving around the Philippines. Overall, to contribute around 1.8 billion pesos in tourist receipts, employ 6.3 million Filipinos, and contribute 6.78% to our Gross Domestic Product.”
As of 2010, the DoT has achieved over half of its projected goals, recording 3.5 million foreign visitors and around 23 million domestic travelers, while contributing 5.76 percent to the GDP.
“The Manila International Airport is the main gateway of the Philippines but it is not going to serve us if we are to achieve 6.6 million visitors by 2016,” Boncato says, “How to achieve the 6.6 million visitors is really to use other international gateways like Iloilo and Davao International Airport in this part of the country.”
The move coincides with the President Aquino’s recently signed Executive Order 29, more commonly known as the “open skies” policy, which effectively allows foreign carriers access to international airports aside from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. This policy is expected to bring a wider range of airline options, which would bring in more tourists in turn.
Boncato had just come from the 6th Transport Ministers meeting of the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), held in Cagayan De Oro on the 28th. The BIMP-EAGA was established in 1994 to help certain areas in its member-countries that are remotely located from their respective capitals but strategically close to one another and Boncato reports that the organization is planning to hold a transport summit for carriers servicing these areas.
“We’re very quick to volunteer that the Davao region be the host of that airline summit,” Boncato says, adding that he expects all of the airlines serving the BIMP-EAGA to be present, including Malaysia Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, Garuda, and MASwings to take part.
“These are the things we’re doing to make sure that foreigners land directly to Davao,” Bancato said. With these routes made available, it is expected that the tourism projects in Mindanao will make a greater impact on the global market. Aside from the 8-kilometer river cruise along mangrove trees that directly benefit the communities around it, Tagum City also has a 7-hectare aviary, and a 30-hectare eco-tourism park with over 1000 species of trees.
“Eco-tourism really is the branding of the Davao region and it entails projects like these that involve the community,” Boncato observed. “Eco-tourism definitely is the future of tourism, especially in this part of the world.”
At the launch of Tagum City’s River Cruise program initiated by the city’s tourism council, Boncato said that Singapore-based Tiger Airways is launching its inaugural Davao-Singapore flight on November 6, and negotiations with Indonesia-based carrier Lion Air to reopen the Davao-Manado connection are under way.
The DoT is now in the final stages of completing the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), a medium-term program that maximizes tourism as a source of revenue. Soon to be presented to President Aquino, the vision of the NTDP is to make the Philippines a must-experience destination, Boncato says.
“We’ve also set goals for ourselves for the next 5 years,” Boncato said. “We would want to have 6.6 million foreign visitors. We would want to have over 30 million domestic travelers moving around the Philippines. Overall, to contribute around 1.8 billion pesos in tourist receipts, employ 6.3 million Filipinos, and contribute 6.78% to our Gross Domestic Product.”
As of 2010, the DoT has achieved over half of its projected goals, recording 3.5 million foreign visitors and around 23 million domestic travelers, while contributing 5.76 percent to the GDP.
“The Manila International Airport is the main gateway of the Philippines but it is not going to serve us if we are to achieve 6.6 million visitors by 2016,” Boncato says, “How to achieve the 6.6 million visitors is really to use other international gateways like Iloilo and Davao International Airport in this part of the country.”
The move coincides with the President Aquino’s recently signed Executive Order 29, more commonly known as the “open skies” policy, which effectively allows foreign carriers access to international airports aside from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. This policy is expected to bring a wider range of airline options, which would bring in more tourists in turn.
Boncato had just come from the 6th Transport Ministers meeting of the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), held in Cagayan De Oro on the 28th. The BIMP-EAGA was established in 1994 to help certain areas in its member-countries that are remotely located from their respective capitals but strategically close to one another and Boncato reports that the organization is planning to hold a transport summit for carriers servicing these areas.
“We’re very quick to volunteer that the Davao region be the host of that airline summit,” Boncato says, adding that he expects all of the airlines serving the BIMP-EAGA to be present, including Malaysia Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, Garuda, and MASwings to take part.
“These are the things we’re doing to make sure that foreigners land directly to Davao,” Bancato said. With these routes made available, it is expected that the tourism projects in Mindanao will make a greater impact on the global market. Aside from the 8-kilometer river cruise along mangrove trees that directly benefit the communities around it, Tagum City also has a 7-hectare aviary, and a 30-hectare eco-tourism park with over 1000 species of trees.
“Eco-tourism really is the branding of the Davao region and it entails projects like these that involve the community,” Boncato observed. “Eco-tourism definitely is the future of tourism, especially in this part of the world.”
